News and Research 246

Unexcused Absence: The Pandemic, School Closures, and the Rise of Inequality | School-age minors have suffered one of the COVID-19 pandemic’s most dramatic disruptions. In March 2020, schools closed their doors across the globe, and more than 1.5 billion students worldwide ceased to learn in physical classrooms—or, in many cases, in any organized fashion at all…

Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic on Education of School Students: Educational and Economic Consequences of Disruption in Learning in Georgia by USAID | This paper is an attempt to take first steps towards assessing potential economic and social damage experienced by current students induced by disruptions in the education process…

Kyrgyzstan to become largest exporter of education in Central Asia | Deputy Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan Zhyldyz Bakashova said the time has come to make Kyrgyzstan the largest exporter of education and skilled labor in Central Asia. She stated it at a visiting meeting to discuss the roadmap for a new conceptual model of development of the educational process University 4.0.

Иностранным студентам облегчат жизнь: МВД разработало законопроект, смягчающий миграционную политику |International students will make life easier: The Ministry of Internal Affairs has developed a draft law softening migration policy | A bill simplifying the stay of foreign students in Russia will soon be submitted to the State Duma. On Monday, the document was approved by the government commission on legislative activity. Foreign citizens studying in Russia are offered to give permission for temporary stay in a special order – not for three years, like the rest, but for the entire period of study. In addition, after graduation, they will be able to obtain a residence permit in the Russian Federation in a simplified manner.

Georgia On the Road to Green and Resilient Growth | Sebastian Molineus: “As part of our ongoing Inclusion, Innovation and Quality project, we are supporting the construction of new schools and modernization of existing schools and integrated preschools so that they are healthy for children, teachers, and the environment, and are resilient against any future climate-related weather shocks.”

The COVID-19 Cost of School Closures in Earnings and Income across the World – now in print in Comparative Education Review (https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/713540) | The article provides estimates of the economic loss associated with COVID-19-induced school closures by mapping lost learning to the lifetime reduction of the earnings of graduates from 205 high-, middle-, and low-income countries. We also estimate economic losses by level of education. The losses are significant:

Estimated losses in (current year) GDP due to learning losses associated with COVID-19 school closures, by country income level

Psacharopoulos, G., Collis, V., Patrinos, H.A., Vegas, E. 2021. “The COVID-19 Cost of School Closures in Earnings and Income across the World.” Comparative Education Review 65(2): 271-287 https://doi.org/10.1086/713540

HLO (Harmonized Learning Outcomes)

Now in print in Nature: Angrist, N, S Djankov, P K Goldberg and H A Patrinos (2021), Measuring human capital using global learning data. Nature 592, 403–408

Summary in VoxEU: Measuring human capital: Learning matters more than schooling

More HLO in the News and Blogs

Data